Bacary Sagna says he’s impressed by what he has seen of new left-back Nacho Monreal after the Spaniard helped the Gunners to consecutive clean sheets in his first two games.
The January arrival from Malaga has cut a solid and consistent figure during the one-nil wins over both Stoke and Sunderland seemingly unfazed by the physicality and high tempo of the Premier League.
Speaking about his defensive cohort, Sagna admitted to Arsenal.com that he hadn’t followed the career of the 26-year-old but is pleased he has demonstrated his potential from the off.
“I didn’t know much about him. I had a chance to speak with Santi Cazorla and he talked about him. He looks good. He had a great game in his first game [versus Stoke].
“It’s not easy because he only trained with us once before. I wouldn’t like to be in his position, but he did well.
“It was a difficult game to play in, with a lot of physicality and a lot of challenges. We won and everyone is happy.”
More at ease at the back than Andre Santos, it would appear ‘no-nonsense’ is Nacho’s attitude towards defending.
Shedding light on what Arsene Wenger has outlined for him at the Emirates the new arrival made clear he wasn’t going to be challenging for the golden boot anytime soon.
“I’m asked to defend well and not so much to score goals,” he told Arsenal Player.
“When I go forward and assist others, it is as if I have scored, so that is a great satisfaction for me.
“It’s difficult saying what your own qualities are. I’m quite a committed person to the club and to the team and so I always give 100 per cent in every game. That’s the best attribute a footballer can have.”
Having not won any honours in his career Nacho should fit right in at Arsenal (just a little gallows humour on a Wednesday afternoon…), but he’s determined to put that right.
“One thing every player wants is trophies. I can’t complain about my career at all, but I would llike to win a trophy and I hope I can do this with Arsenal.”
Arseblog News certainly hopes so too.
ARSE!
Nacho Verm Per Bac
Deadly Defence
“Nacho Verm Per Bac”
Is it just me, or does that look more like a motto in Latin than a back four?
Just you.
Nacho Per Bac Ram
Deadlier defence
Since Nacho is cup bound it would be
Verm Per Bac Ram
am i the only one here who considers the possibility of gibbs being ahead of nacho in the pecking order? we know wenger doesn’t like to “kill” his prospect players and gibbs is very much one of them.
In my mind I see them being rotated or subbed on for each other, whether it is Gibbs on for Nacho when we need more attacking prowess, or Nacho on for Gibbs when we need to calm down and sustain a lead. I know full backs aren’t the normal players to be subbed, but I think Arsenal’s fullbacks influence a game more then the fullbacks from other teams.
A bit early to judge. At elast it brings a bit of competition and cover which eases the pressure on Gibb’s fitness.
I am kind of hoping that it takes some of the pressure off of Gibbs. Having another player to share the load, and learn from will be great for his development.
In general, the more positions that we have 2 quality players that we can rotate without the fans whimpering, the better it is for all of us.
Gibbs will be a world class attacking fullback if he can get over his injury problems, no doubt.
hopefully having nacho there will also help gibbs learn proper positioning, he certainly looks adept, experienced, and calculative – if you’re in the right place at the right there’s most certainly a lesser chance of injury, and it conserves your stamina too, making u less prone to overstretched limbs + lapses of concentration. Would help too if Gibbs took the next summer too to work on his physical strength… with him and podolski’s chargin runs, the pace on the left would be awe insipiring
Crappy*. Koscielny is the best center back at the club. Give him three or four consecutive starts and you’ll remember why. The other two don’t even come close.
Verm–> Kos and I agree.
I think ramsey alone at defence should do.
Such a shame that he’s cup tied. What if Vermaelen is out against Bayern too? I seem to remember the Coq playing left-back a few times around a year ago. Scary thoughts.
if Sagna does not have a future as our full back, he certainly does as our centre back.
Wenger sign him up!
I remember begging for this option instead of Silvestre in the 1-4 at the Camp Nou…
Nacho/Gibbs, Per, Kos/Verm, Bac/Jen – options at last.
Subject change: It’s interesting, isn’t it, that nothing is being said about a possible new contract for Wenger. Why? With just 16 months to go until our glorious leader’s current contract expires, why isn’t he being offered a new one? Is it because the Board know that he is well past it but can’t afford to sack him? Or are they waiting to see what happens this season? You would think that it would be highly undesirable to have Wenger as manager next season just running down his contract – how could he motivate the players if they know he… Read more »
What does that have to do with Nacho wanting trophies?
Coz I the real interview nacho says hes determined to win trophies with arsenal
You know Fats, your cynicism makes me sick, but I love your comments none the less.
Actually there were talks about new contract for AW back in september I think. Gazidis talked about it in papers and Arsene dismiss those talks back then.
Fatgooner’s got an interesting point here that is worthy of debate – so why all the thumbs down?
Oh, I know why………………..
Thumbed him down for the inability to google and search for correlations from previous contract extensions.
It’s okay to bring up smartarse critical comments, but doing some homework before is a must.
The last time Wenger signed a contract extension in 2010, he had one year left on his contract.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/ars-ne-wenger-signs-contract-extension
So it won’t be odd if an extension does not occur this summer.
So not strange. A quick google search would’ve soothed your curiosity, don’t be lazy.
Sorry, I meant:
So it won’t be odd if an extension does not occur UNTIL this summer.
Or maybe he is too busy working on building this new team and gelling them together to negotiate. And undoubtedly if Arsenal fall out of the Top 4 he will consider his position at the end of the season. One thing you can be sure of is that he will have what he believes is the clubs best interest at heart anyway, right or wrong.
I was reading some where he was the second best left back in la liga behind the athletico madrid left back, I think are team is really coming together, why did we nit jus spend a little more and get baines. Not saying im unhappy with nacho but we had no idea if he would be good but baines is a sure bet
Some people are just never satisfied.
You must have an entertaining sex life.
never because his effort is always tame
So one second you’re saying he was the second best left back in la liga, the next your moaning we didn’t get Baines? Don’t get me wrong, it was nice dreaming of wenger splashing cash on Baines and Fallaini but it was never realistically going to happen. Plus, as is mentioned in the article, Nacho is a much more defensive full back, something that I am quite happy about, particularly when you consider some of the ‘let’s charge forward to the penalty box’ moments both verm and kos can be prone to
Is Baines for sale? Does Baines want to leave his club? Does his club want to sell him?
Real life is so much harder than your PlayStation.
I’m not sure real life is harder Mallen. I’ve tried Team Deathmatch on Black Ops 2 and I can’t believe how quick the reactions are of some of the freaks that play it.
@Midfield Corporal
It’s harder because in Black Ops 2, you don’t really die.
Yes, yes, get a sense of humour.
Baines and Everton play with different positional strategies and his attacking qualities are also enabled by the fact that he has strong cover to back him up (teamwork), Monreal’s qualities in overall positioning and acclimation to the passing game, not to mention his already established comfort in playing with Cazorla as ex-teammates make him more appealing to me. I could completely see Baines’ form suffering from a move to Arsenal – his game in England against Brazil certainly was not as polished or as exciting as when he plays with Everton. If anything I think Arsene made a signing that… Read more »
That Juventus thrashing of Celtic made me think how important it is to keep a clean-sheet at least for the first 20-25 minutes (Juventus scored the opener in just the 3rd minute). Desperate for an equialiser, Celtic over-exerted themelves for the next hour, using up all their precious energy physically and emotinoally. Inevitably, an exhausted defense committed two more errors towards the end which led to two more Juventus goals. How about making them Bayern players suffer from ‘flashbacks’ of that nightmare-from-hell that was Chelsea, and ‘park the bus’ with a 5-1-3-1 formation? Goal: Szceschny Back (5): Jenks-Bac-Per-Kos-Verm DM (1):… Read more »
I do not believe we have the personnel to ‘park the bus’. If Sessegnon can make a fool out of Jenkinson and Nacho, I hate to even consider what Ribery would do to them.
I strongly believe that our best form of defense is going to be keeping possession of the ball – my guess is Wenger is going to opt for 4 midfielders in order to help us keep the ball better – I am expecting a very similar lineup to the Sunderland game.
Just my thoughts.
I guess you’re right pensive gooner. And dominating possession of the ball would make for a football match to see.
The only thing is that would potentially expose us to the Bayern counterattack… so I hope Koscielny plays as he is by far our quickest and nimblest Central Defender.
All I am saying is that I think there will be a back 4 and not a back 5 – No Jenkinson. I completely agree with you: Boss-cielny definitely needs to play. I genuinely believe that once he is given a run of games and finds his feet in our team this season – he will prove that he is the best CB we have.
Koscielny Mertesacker would be the best pairing I agree – Mertesacker and Podolski have experience against Bayern so that is vastly beneficial, and Koscielny certainly has pace – Vermaelen at Left Back + Sagna at Right Back then maybe. Hopefully by then Gibbs could be put on the bench for LB too just in case. Arteta, Ramsey, Wilshere, Cazorla, with Coquelin as a sub for Ramsey could be a midfield pairing that works well with it too. If we do 4 midfield though who would attack first? Walcott or Giroud… If Giroud showed better form on Sunderland I would’ve guessed… Read more »
Slightly off topic but are FIFA retarded? They insist on having the 5th and 6th officials (who are normally as useless as an ejection seat on a helicopter) on the same side of the pitch as the fucking linesmen! Is it just me or is that pure stupidity? Surely you would, by now, realise that by doing this you leave two corners of the pitch untended whilst the other two you have two gormless twats contradicting each other. Like the Celtic game last night. Matri’s toe poke went over the line with the 5th official right there. He missed it… Read more »
Sepp is that you?
An ejection seat in a helicopter would actually be quite useful if the passenger was Tony Pullis.
it’s for the lack of quality that Celtic lost the game.
aimless crosses after aimless crosses
Seems a nacho for trophies!……..We’ve kept two clean sheets with him in the side and bloodied an orc. He’s obviously a fantastic addition!
I like footballers like Giroud and Monreal. Relatively speaking, in comparison to other world class footballers, they may not be the most talented footballers, but they put their heart and professionalism in playing football. I mean, for instance, look at Giroud. The guy had a rather modest youth career but quietly moved up in his career. He won the best player award in Ligue 2, moved up to Ligue 1 and won the top goal scorer award. Even on the pitch, he doesn’t have the god given pace or the flair of some other players, but he runs hard and… Read more »
So long as we don’t sign Grant Holt.
I see no point in worrying that Gibbs development might be stunted by Nacho’s arrival. Isnt this the ideal scenario where we have two quality players for each position. Injury and form will decide who plays. On a different note, I’ve just listened to Le Grove podcast interview with Philip Auclair. It’s mainly a out Thierry’s Auto biograph, but the end bit reflects on the lost opportunity of not using the Invincibles in coaching, management and ambassador roles in the way Bayern or Ajax do. I think I’d be more confident that the club is in good hands if I… Read more »
I’d quite like to see Gibbs play in front of Nacho, perhaps in tight games or when a man down. He has got some really good attacking qualities, always good at darting in between the oppo looking for a one two and sometimes delivers a decent cross (Did he used to play mid btw?). But I do agree and am thankful that we could finally pick a team based on form rather than injury. I don’t think we’ve ‘lost’ the opportunity to have the legends back working at The Arsenal. Theres still plenty of time for them to learn their… Read more »
I think John Cross was wishing the same thing for DB10, although if he’s an assistant manager now would he see it as a step down? I don’t know. I’d personally love to see him and Vieira as manager and assistant manager, Lehman or Seaman coaching the keepers, any of the legendary back 4 contributing to defensive coaching. Sounds good in theory, probably be a nightmare if it happened and we’d end up hating them all……..maybe it’s best we stick with Neil Bannfield.
Agree its a nice idea. I’m sure that DB10 has been asked about Arsenal and gave a ‘never say never’ response.
Of the others: Isn’t Mad Jens doing his badges at Arsenal right now?
Sadly Viera seems to have sold his soul to the Middle Eastlands, and it nay not be possible to bring him back to the light side.
As to the Legendary Back 4, doesn’t the guy who sits next to Wenger every week count?
Didnt know much about him.Gotta see him player before making comments. I always use to wish a left back who can play like sagna when he plays at rb hope nacho is the answer would add real solidity to the defence and when the games all about attack you can have gibbs there who has been magnificient this season.
I know Nacho is cup tied…but why wouldn’t we want to use Ignasi Miquel as left back? I remember a game last season, when he was called to play LB and he did pretty well. He looks like to have a decent understanding of the general idea of defending and hardly fazed by the responsibility.
This is if Vermaelen does not return for CL. Although, throwing him to defend Robben would be too harsh on him…Still,
Sagna – Per – Kos – Ignasi
I’M APPEALING TO ALL GUNNERS FANS & SUPPORTERS .THERE IS A LAD FROM AJAX FOOTBALL CLUB(OUR CAPTAIN FORMER CLUB) BY THE NAME OF TOBY ALDERWEIRELD WHO I BEEN TRACKING FOR SOME TIME, I KNOW THAT WENGER NEEDS TO ADD THIS LAD TO OUR TEAM BASE ON HIS PERFORMANCES RIDING 2 SEASONS NOW .HE’S PERFECT ANY WHERE ALONG THE BACK ESPECIALLY IN THE CENTER-BACK REGION AND COVER LIKES A EAGLE HIGH IN THE SKY! LONG & SHORT OF IT ANY ONE IN ENGLAND TRY PASSING THIS TO WENGER .BEFORE TOTTENHAM SET UP AGAIN THIS GUY IS A MUST BUY FOR CLUB… Read more »
I want what he’s drinking.
I DON’T KNOW BUT HE’S GIVING ME A HEADACHE.
I’m not sure whether you have noticed it, but your Caps lock is on and its pretty scary.
Stay defending Nacho mon…I’d take any cleansheet wins over saucy 7-5s any day.
And yes, when we need a bit of attacking defender, ol Gibbo is always there for a swap, cant really complain on that
Nacho’s hunger can only be quenched by two trophies this season though.
The FA Cup or 4th place in the laegue.
everyone is quick to forget that gibbs was brilliant before he got injured and nacho wasnt tested against stoke and sessenon made a fool out of him a few times. in my mind gibbs is still first choice but id be glad for nacho to prove me wrong
Yet another Arsenal player talking about trophies.
We have heard the talk for the past eight years.
How about turning all the talk into trophies .